Tragedy
by Spender Loks
Summary: Zuko is on his way to visit Aang, Katara, and their daughter Kya when their house goes up in flames; Zuko is the first responder. Occurs post-series, contains graphic violence. Oneshot  for now!


A/N: Since this will most likely grow into something more, it's not made clear—this takes place around twenty years after the conclusion of the series. Antagonists can include anti-benders or Fire Nation malcontents—your choice!

This piece is rough, but I hope it's at least clear and that I captured _some_ of the emotions involved. This started as an idea for a plot point in an OC-driven fic that was never written. Since then, I've put some other irons in the fire. Re-reading this, I decided I want to use this as a part of a (technically still) future-fanon piece. So hopefully, this will be taken down in the coming weeks and replaced with a story with an actual, 5-piece, mountain-shaped plot!

But beyond that, this is submitted un-beta'd and solely self-edited. That being said, point ANYTHING wrong you see out to me! I'm a wannabe perfectionist when it comes to grammar, and I welcome any criticisms. _That_ being said, leave me any sort of thought you have about the other aspects of writing. I'm even more desperate for that—I am good enough at English that I should be able to do grammar properly, but I am an absolute novice when it comes to creative writing! Any kind of feedback is welcomed and thanked with kittens sent through the mail!*

TTFN ~Spender

*Note: Kittens not actually sent through the mail. That would be irresponsible.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

The first thing Zuko actually felt was the heat. It was an oppressive, uncomfortable heat, even for the Firelord. From atop his Mongoose Dragon, he had seen the glow on the horizon for minutes, and smelled the smoke for twice as long, but until he crested the hill overlooking the Avatar's vacation home, he hadn't realized just how terrible the damage was.

Where there used to be a house, there was now a pile of smoldering rubble. Large tongues of flame licked at the grass around the fire's ever-expanding edges. Incredulity kept his hold on his mind for a short moment before anger and rage overtook the surprise and began to boil inside Zuko. _Whoever did this will pay dearly_. He clenched his fists and tightened his jaw.

It had been by pure chance that Zuko heard the blast in the first place. He was on his way to visit his friends at their temporary vacation home at the foothills of the capitol island's volcano when he heard the loud boom. However, he didn't truly realize what had happened until he saw the smoke begin to rise above the horizon.

He had driven his Mongoose Dragon to its limits in order to reach Aang's house as quickly as possible, spurred on by a sense of dread not felt since that day in Tu Zin years ago.

The smoke was thick and suffocating. Thick clouds poured from the bottom of the basin, roiling upwards and expanding. Much of the basin's walls were obscured from Zuko's vision, and what he could see was deserted.

Suddenly, a secondary blast erupted from the remains of the house. Zuko was momentarily deafened by the noise. Even more smoke began pouring from the crater, and the fire from the remains of the house began to spread, desperate to consume whatever it touched.

Zuko couldn't ignore the flames any longer; they would have to be dealt with before he could search the rest of the basin. He navigated his way down the steep face of the hill, exercising all of the considerable amounts of speed and agility he had. Beads of sweat began to form due to the intense heat; Zuko silently chided himself for allowing the break in self-discipline. _A true master does not let fire influence him; he controls the fire_. The old adage ran through Zuko's head as he arrived at the edge of the blaze.

He breathed as deeply as he could in the smoke as he raised his hands in front of him. The tongues of flame responded to his call, and licked out towards his fingers. Zuko pulled his arms back, palms facing the inferno and arms splayed to either side of him, and the fire he was bending began to swirl, slowly forming two spheres under the palms of his hands. The spheres were constantly twisting and swirling, small but intense vortexes of flame being fed by the rest of the fire. Two large conduits from the heart of the inferno connected the spheres of compressed flame to the main body of the fire. The exertion of controlling such a large amount of power and compressing it into such a small amount of space was obvious on Zuko's features; his jaw clenched, all the muscles in his body taut, he snarled as the twin spheres of flame continued to be fed.

Soon, all of the flames from the debris had dissipated, having been channeled into the spheres. Zuko brought his hands together, the spheres melding into one between the Firelord's hands. He continued to press the sphere together, smaller and smaller, until...silence—a miniscule, fleeting moment of complete silence with Zuko surrounded by the thick, black smoke, the compressed sphere he had created no larger than a mango. And then Zuko threw his arms to either side of him, a thin sheet of flame shooting out in all directions, and the silence was rudely usurped by a huge whoosh. The expanding fireball carried enough force to dissipate the smoke but was not strong enough to combust anything else in the basin. _Thank Agni for the wet season._ Zuko stood by the smoldering remains of the house as he controlled his breathing, and he noticed that he was no longer alone in the basin.

Dread clawed at Zuko's stomach as he saw two figures on the far end of the basin from where he had entered. To Zuko's dismay, he saw a long braid lay against one figures back and light blue arrows snake around the limbs of the other.

Galvanized into action, flames jetted from Zuko's soles as he leapt into a dead sprint towards his friends. As he approached, he saw that Aang was crouched, and a wave of relief swept over him when he recognized the rise-and-fall of Aang's chest; he was alive! The elation lasted for but a second, however, when Zuko recognized the quick, jolting movements of sobs wracking Aang, saw the glisten of tear tracks down Aang's cheeks, and the hollow look in his eyes, before his gaze fell to what Aang was cradling. "Oh, Agni, no..." Zuko breathed.

The sightless eyes of the Avatar's eight-year-old daughter, Kya, gazed towards the heavens, her small hands still clutched at the jagged chunk of wood embedded in her abdomen.

Zuko fell motionless, the gravity of the situation weighing him down. He felt helpless, useless, like a failure—a disappointment, unfit for the throne. His scar prickled as he struggled to repress feelings that he thought he conquered long ago. _Now is not the time for self-doubt. Now is not the time for self-doubt._ Zuko repeated the mantra and the lecherous feelings began to recede from him. _Now is not the time for self-doubt..._

"Katara's dead, too." Those three words eliminated every last trace of self-doubt in Zuko and replaced it with inconsolable, immeasurable grief. He looked at Aang and saw the pain from saying that short sentence in his eyes as tears danced down the numerous tear tracks. Zuko knelt next to Aang and placed his hand on Aang's shoulder. "I was too late—I had left to take a walk when I heard the explosion. I came back to...the house was missing an entire wall. I could see right into the bedroom..." Aang sobbed and trailed off. Zuko brought Aang into an embrace, Kya's corpse sheltered between their bodies. Aang found the strength to continue, and said, "Kya was propped against the wall. Katara had crawled next to her, but she couldn't have healed her anyway."

Zuko gasped as he noticed that Katara's body was missing an arm and the other hand. "Agni..." he breathed softly.

"I could see clean through the floor to the cellar." Aang's statement drew Zuko's attention away from the waterbender who had been stripped of her bending. "The blast must have caught Katara and Kya in the same room..."

"Aang, I—"

"She was probably putting her to bed. She was fucking tucking her in!" Kya's corpse rolled out of Aang's arms into Zuko's lap as the airbender stood, fists clenched. Winds began to swirl with unnatural intensity, stirring up soot and debris, and a blue glow appeared on the edges of Aang's eyes.

"No." Zuko held Kya against his shoulder with one hand, the other grasping Aang's. In any other situation, it would have appeared that the young girl was simply sleeping against Zuko's shoulder. "Not now, Aang. There will be time for anger, for revenge." The glow crept away from Aang's eyes and the airbender deflated into Zuko's embrace. "That's for later. We have to make sure these two make it to the spirit world properly first."

Aang sobbed into Zuko's shoulder, the sounds of his sadness twisting and twirling into the air, dispersing into the world, seemingly seeking the spirits of Aang's family.


End file.
